Misty took another stroll around the house. She had learned to pass time, when Cordelia was at school, by satisfying her curiosity with every crook and corner the mansion and its grounds had to offer. As a child, the house always felt so foreign and so cold. Uninviting and hostile even. Now she had learned to adapt – just as she had in the forest, however easier that had been.
Cordelia was busier with her school now. It got harder as she got older – everything does, she often said and Misty supposed she was right – and her days longer, her homework more voluminous. Misty received very little homeschooling, but enough to her own mind. Books wasn't for her.
She was allowed to move freely in the greenhouse now without having to steal the keys from Spalding's pockets and she spent most of her time out there. She had grown almost an entire forest. She had brought a little bit of home in there and her old forest nest was but a distant memory now. It had been many years since she had lived out there and even the memories of it were fading. She could only recall glimpses. She had become a city girl. No, she had become a girl of this house, but she would never be like Cordelia or the girls in her class. And she didn't want to. She thought Cordelia liked that she was different too.
Some days she let plants be plants and wandered around the house instead. As she got older there were places she could no longer sneak into, but there were others she could. She could reach new door handles, open new cupboards. She was not yet as tall as the adults of the house, servants and master, but she was just as tall as Cordelia. She thought she would be taller someday. She liked the thought of that. As if it made up for the difference of their age.
Today Misty had found a new door. It happened sometimes in a place as big as this. She had moved around the basement a few times, but it held no exciting secrets. Only dust and old furniture. Fiona liked to keep up with the trends of interior design, she said – whatever that meant. Misty had sometimes spent hours lying on the old couch down there staring at the grey walls and gazing at spiders spinning the most beautiful patterns of silver web. She visited the basement often. She had, however, never been to the attic. And now she believed she had found the way in.
The first door was unlocked and Misty climbed the long staircase. She had the sense of walking a wry path through the entire house, encaged in a long wooden box. When she reached the top, the first thing she noticed was a shiny lock on the door handle. The handle itself was raised above the usual height and she had to stretch her arms to reach it. The effort was to no use, because all she could do was to dangle the heavy lock back and forth and appreciate the scraping noise as it rubbed against the wooden surface of the door.
Misty didn't give up. A lock on a door could not be the end of her adventure. There was something in there and she was curious. The forest never locked you out like this, she remembered, and this man made wall would not stop her from keeping up her favorite pastime. She looked for cracks in the door, anything to give her a hint of the content of the room.
"What do you think you're doing, child!" The sharp voice cut through her concentrated silence and made her jump. She looked over her shoulder to find Delphine marching up the stairs. She reached out as if to push Misty away, but changed her mind in the middle of the motion. Instead she took one step up and her corpulent body forced Misty out of the small space and a few steps down.
"You can't be up here! Have no one you told you this is mine?" Misty had never heard her hiss that way before. She was always annoyed or disgusted with her; Misty was a permanently source of displeasure to her for reasons she didn't know. But even so her voice was always even and polite.
"No", Misty said. She could feel the hostility coming off Delphine like a stench of sweat and it made her put on her most defiant face.
"No", Delphine repeated. "Of course no one tells you anything. You're no better than me. Now get out!"
Misty bared her teeth at her and snarled. It always brought at certain satisfaction to see Delphine cringe because of it. She did again today and then waved Misty off with her hand.
"Go away!"
Misty did. She knew she had no power over Delphine. The maid might serve her meals, but she didn't take commands from Misty. Misty didn't like to give commands anyhow, only today she wished she could make Delphine show her what was in her room.
She didn't tell Cordelia about the episode, when she finally came home. She had one of those days, where she said only little, ate only little and buried herself in schoolwork until evening. When she went to bed, it was with a troubled look on her face. Misty didn't sleep in her room as much as she did, when they were younger. Cordelia was becoming a woman, Fiona said, and it was not appropriate. But on days like this Misty snuck in there anyway, and put her own pillow down beside Cordelia's.
"What's wrong, Delia?" She asked, but Cordelia just smiled and said:
"Don't worry about it. It was just a long day." This was the kind of words Cordelia said to her mother, when she didn't feel like elaborating. Misty wondered, if Fiona even noticed the shadow in Cordelia's eyes, when she tried to brush her off.
"You can tell me, if you want", Misty said. And sometimes Cordelia did, but not today. She only smiled again and closed her eyes. Misty played with a strand of her long, blonde hair and listened for the time, when Cordelia's breathing grew slow and heavy with sleep.
The next day Misty tried the attic again. It was the way Delphine had hissed at her, as if she had been afraid Misty would see behind the door, more than anything. It made her curious.
The first door still wasn't locked and Misty climbed the stairs again, her pulse racing with excitement. She had to hurry so Delphine wouldn't catch her, before she had time to unlock the secret of the attic.
She searched the frame again with a pounding heart and a grin on her face. When she didn't find any crack or weakness of the hinges, she went for the bottom of the door. It was solid black under there and she couldn't see anything through the shallow gap between door and floor. But she did think she heard a ruffling noise. It only sparked her curiosity and she tried prying her hand through the gap. Maybe she could feel something in there.
Feel something she did. Her fingers touched a sticky substance on the floor, cold and not as thin as water, but close.
When she retracted her hand and looked at her fingers, her heart started beating faster. Only now it was followed by an icky heat rising into her throat.
There was blood on her fingers.
And angry steps on the stairs.
"Didn't I tell you to stay away?"
Misty spun around and hid her fingers in the folds of her dress. Delphine looked furious.
"Are you deaf too? Stay out of my business, bastard."
Misty didn't understand that word, only that it was aimed at her. Her upper lip curled, but she held back the snarl this time. If Delphine came too close, she would realize what Misty had found. Instead she bowed her head and said, as convincing as she could: "Sorry."
Before Delphine could say more, Misty rushed past her, down the stairs and out in the free air. She went to wash her fingers and her dress, where the blood had touched. Then she waited anxiously for Cordelia to come home.
O0O
Cordelia left the classroom as soon as the bell rang. She barely said goodbye to Queenie. She hated it, when Madison had time to throw words at her at the end of a day, because those were always the ones that stuck. She hurried off the school area, before the star of the class had realized she was gone. It was the safest way to avoid her. Cordelia couldn't wait until she started high school. It was only a year away and then she might be free of the vicious, pretty blonde, who always got the boys to like her and got them to turn their back on Cordelia. She wasn't even sure, if she wanted the boys to pay attention to her the way they did Madison, but if they could at least look at her. Acknowledge she was there. She might still sound slightly different from them and she would never look a pretty as someone like Madison, but she was a part of the town now. She had been here for almost a decade, how much longer would it take them to accept her?
She walked home fast. She would get home before her mother, long enough to compose a face that didn't give her away. To Fiona anyway. Misty always seemed to know, but she didn't push, when Cordelia kept her silence. She often did. It was wrong of her to burden Misty with her problems, she who got to go to school. Her mother never caved on letting Misty come with her, only admitted to a few lectures at home to supplement what Cordelia had taught her. She was proud of that, having taught Misty to read and calculate. She didn't think anyone else in her class could do that. But of course Madison would just call her a nerd and see if such a trend didn't catch on within a single week of school. Cordelia didn't need more names.
She found Misty on the floor of her room, when she came home. Her face shone with news, as if she was bursting to say something. Misty rarely was.
"Hey? What is it? You look like you've swallowed seven alphabets."
"What's in the attic?" She asked. There was urgency in her voice as well.
It wasn't a question Cordelia had been expecting. She put down her school bag and began to unpack her books.
"Which one do you mean? I think there's more than one room up there."
"The one with the stairs from the back yard."
"Hm… I don't know, isn't that Delphine's room?"
Misty gave an eager nod and continued to stare at Cordelia, looking for more information. Her eyes looked wide and eager and she kept looking down at her fingers, as if there was something on them, Cordelia couldn't see.
"That's all I know, Misty. Why do you ask?"
Misty got to her feet and rushed to close the door. She looked down the hall before doing so. Cordelia let her books be and sat down to focus on whatever Misty was trying to tell her.
"Why are you acting so mysterious?"
"I think Delphine is hidin' somethin' up there." Her face took on graveness, which was a rare sight in Misty's ever so light features. "I found blood."
Cordelia creased her forehead. "What do you mean you found blood?"
Misty looked at her fingers again. "I was just curious, so I put my fingers under the door and when I took 'em out – blood! Delia, what if she has somethin' in there?"
"Delphine? Are you sure?" Her upset made Cordelia nervous. She knew their maid was hard on Misty, when she thought Cordelia didn't hear it, but Misty was insinuating something much more critical than harsh words and a hostile attitude.
Misty nodded. She had never looked more serious. But not scared, Cordelia noticed. If she had really found blood, shouldn't she be terrified?
"Are you sure it was blood? It wasn't just… water with something in it?"
"I know blood", Misty said with her grave voice, which made her sound much older than she was. "It was sticky, just like…" She made a motion with her fingers to emphasize her words. "What do we do, Delia?"
Cordelia rubbed her forehead instead of answering. Suddenly her head was spinning. She knew Misty wasn't fooling around, but she couldn't wrap her head around what that meant. Was there someone in their attic? Someone who was hurt? Misty kept pushing her with her gaze, demanding action.
"We'll tell my mother, when she gets home. She can get Delphine to open the door. Then we'll see."
Misty nodded, satisfied. "I'll keep an eye on Delphine until then." She turned to leave, but Cordelia stopped her.
"Can we stay in here until then?" Doubt or not, she didn't like the idea of Misty going only a step closer to the attic, if the circumstances were as severe as Misty implied.
Both of them were out of the room the second they heard the door open. But Cordelia had a feeling Misty's eagerness was a form of morbid curiosity, or perhaps that strange connection she had to everyone and everything that was hurt, whereas Cordelia only felt dread at the prospect of finding something.
"Mom, we have to tell you something!"
"Christ, can't I get both feet inside, before you attack me?" Fiona hung her coat and placed a hand at her hip, when she turned towards them.
"It's Delphine's room!" She held back the rest until she had made sure Delphine was nowhere nearby. "Misty found blood by the door." Saying it out loud made the thought of it even more terrifying. Her heart pounded in her chest, as she passed her mother a silent plea to rid her of the dread.
"Do you hear what you're saying, Cordelia? Do you think this is a goddamn movie? If someone stored a dead body in my attic, I think I would know about it."
"I didn't say it was dead!" The whole conversation started to press on her guts the wrong way.
"Well if something has been bleeding up there all day, it sure as hell isn't alive. Stop making up these stories, you're too old for that."
"But Misty found it! And I believe her!"
Fiona sighed, rolled her eyes and cast a glance at Misty, as if to say 'you again'. Misty stared right back with the same grave expression, but didn't utter a word. Fiona scoffed.
"Of course you do. Can I get a cup of coffee first?"
"But mom!"
"All right, all right, if it'll make the both of you leave me alone. Delphine!"
Fiona waved them out of her way and marched through the house. She had to call twice before Delphine appeared.
"Working hard, are we? Whatever you're doing can wait. My daughter seems to think you're hiding something in your room that's bleeding on my floor, so will you kindly reveal your fine little loft, so I can have my peace of mind?"
Cordelia thought Delphine suddenly got a little paler. Now that she studied her, she noticed the shimmer in her skin, as if she'd been sweating profusely. The maid's eyes went to Misty, and some exchange went on between them. Cold air twirled from the contact.
"I don't have all day, Delphine."
She gathered herself and gave a tight nod. "Yes, Madame. Of course."
O0O
Misty kept a close eye on Delphine all the way there, debating what she might do to escape the inevitable. Cordelia walked beside her, anxiety eluding from every step. The initial nasty heat of fright Misty had felt had subsided now. She only wanted to know why Delphine was suddenly so aggressive. It must be some big, dark secret she had locked away in there. No other door in the house had such a lock.
And she wanted to know who or what that blood belonged to.
Fiona walked ahead and waved Delphine up the stairs. They all followed, Cordelia last.
As Delphine stuck the key in the lock, some of the unpleasant heat returned. In the heat of the moment, Misty was suddenly afraid that whatever had caused the bleeding, it was something she couldn't make better.
The door finally opened to the dense darkness of the attic. Delphine stepped inside and Misty hopped up two more steps to see better.
The light went on and revealed a room that was not as dusty but just as eventless as the basement. She went inside to take a better look, with a feeling of defeat pulsing through her system. The adrenalin hadn't quite died yet as she spun around the room, only to find a barren wooden space with a small table and a mobile wall to conceal a small chest with clothes and a mirror hung over a another small desk. On the other end was a large board with a few holes in it. Clothes hung from it to dry. Misty looked to the floor, but found it spotless. She looked extra by the door, but found nothing resembling blood. Confused, she looked from face to face, while feeling her fingers, as if the motion could conjure the blood back to the floor. She knew it had been there.
"Satisfied now?" Delphine snapped and gestured towards the empty room.
"Careful with that tone of yours, Delphine. Don't think I won't kick you back to Laveau, when I grow tired of your gloomy face. I hear she's short on workers these days."
Delphine hastily bowed her head. "I apologize, Madame. Little Misty here has just been on my nerves for a couple of days, if I may say it." Her eyes found Misty's and the wrath was bigger than ever.
"You may", Fiona said and her gaze found Misty too.
"Now you. Do me a favor and stop bothering my personnel, will you? Surely, there must be something more productive you can do with your time than daydreaming horror stories? Your homework for instance, after I kindly provided you with a teacher, so you don't disturb my daughter's education more than you have."
"Mom, she-"
"Quiet! Get out both of you. Go bother someone else. This day have been long enough."
"But why did she tell me not to go in here, if there's nothin'?" Misty blurted the words out and she didn't need Cordelia's sinking face to know she shouldn't have done that.
"Is my privacy too much to ask for, Madame? You told me I could have this room."
"Certainly not." Fiona turned to Misty again and her cold, hard eyes bored her way into Misty's skull. "That's enough out of you. Go to your room and stay there for the rest of the night. I don't want to look at you."
"Mom!"
"Do you want the punishment to include you?" Her tolerance neared the edge and they could all feel it.
"It's okay, Miss Cordelia", Misty said, and remembered to slip into the formal name to prevent further punishment. Cordelia quieted and Fiona strolled out of the room.
Misty shot another glance at the floor, before Delphine pushed them out.
"Little witch", Misty heard her hiss under her breath, just before the door slammed. Cordelia was already a few steps down. Misty knew she was not supposed to talk to her, but she caught her hand halfway down.
"You still believe me?"
Cordelia squeezed her hand and gave her a sympathetic smile. "I believe that you thought it was there. It's okay, Misty. Maybe you just imagined it?"
"I'm not makin' it up. I saw it."
Cordelia simply said: "Sometimes we see or hear things, that aren't really there. But at least no one was hurt, right?"
Misty surrendered the argument and nodded. Cordelia gave her hand another squeeze and let go. They parted ways outside as Misty went to endure her punishment.
Outside she found Spalding lurking around the corner of the building. He studied Misty as she went by and the intensity of it made her stop. She studied him back and noticed how he kept looking the way she had just come.
"You know somethin', don't you?"
He shook his head, violently so, but when the thin curtain of long, grey hair settled around his face, Misty looked into his eyes and thought they told a different story. She shot him another look before going to her room.
She soon forgot all about her conversation with Spalding. As the year went on, the whole episode went to the back of her mind. The harsh words didn't stick. She had received so many of these in her upbringing that she had started to filter them out. And as both the girls grew older, new thoughts took up space in Misty's head. They had much less to do with blood in the attic and more to do with the way Misty felt, when Cordelia squeezed her hand and smiled at her.
